French Company Carrefour, with businesses in Romania worth over EUR 1 billion, rented six stores from Aliment Murfatlar, controlled by sunflower oil producer Argus Constanta and the baking industry manufacturer Dobrogea Group, according to Ziarul Financiar.

Carrefour will most likely re-brand the stores as Carrefour Express, its supermarket chain.  According to ZF's calculations, the transaction amounts to several million euros. Aliment Murfatlar Constanta finished last year with a turnover of RON 22 million (EUR 5 million), down 10 percent compared to the previous year.

Carrefour Romanian now has greater presence in Constanta via this acquisition, where the company had only a hypermarket previously.

With 25 hypermarkets, 52 supermarkets and 5 smaller convenience stores, Carrefour ended 2011 with a EUR 1.1 billion turnover in Romania, similar to 2008, when it had fewer stores.

Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com